Over a boundless expanse of sea.
Islands were scattered across the water. Above, heavy black clouds hung low as lightning raged. At least in the land of thunder, this was the norm. In one of the tallest buildings in Inazuma City, a mature and beautiful young girl with an oval face and her purple hair braided into a slender plait stopped reading her documents. Her purple eyes emitted a series of glows, and the lightning in the sky above grew even more violent.
"My heart suddenly feels incomparably restless. Could something have happened outside? To cause such a strange feeling within me—this matter is definitely not simple."
A long time later, brilliant bolts of lightning flickered around the girl, and her figure vanished from the spot, plunging Tenshukaku back into silence.
*Bzz— bzz—* the alarm on a phone rang.
"Huh? Phew, last night's dream was so terrifying. Let me roll over and go back to sleep... Wait—where's my bed?"
Fu Li did not feel the warm, soft touch of a blanket, only dampness all around and the oppressive, rotting scent of old wood in the air. An abandoned warehouse—no, an abandoned ship's cabin.
All drowsiness vanished from Fu Li in an instant, and she scrambled up with a start.
*Pip, pip...*
Fu Li reached out to grab the phone beside her and turned off the alarm. For some reason, the tempered glass protector had cracked, but not too seriously... It felt like the phone had gotten bigger?
"Huh?"
Looking at those fair, slender, and rosy jade-like hands, she couldn't help swallowing hard. Hurriedly tapping open the phone, she snapped a dozen photos in a row. However, when she opened QQ to post a status update, she discovered there was no signal.
She paused in confusion, clicked her tongue, and turned off the screen. The darkened screen unexpectedly reflected a profoundly familiar figure. Holy crap! This is...
And that crisp, cold yet wonderful voice—let me double-check...
Fu Li shuddered all over, tentatively lowering her gaze. A pair of towering, full breasts—though compared to the Raiden Shogun in her memories, these were wrapped up tight...
She must be dreaming. With lucid dreams like this, as long as she concentrated, she would wake up quickly. With that thought, she punched one of those mountain peaks. Her body cooperated quite well, rewarding her with a sharp pang of pain.
*Ouch—*
This... this defies science...
So... who am I? The Raiden Shogun? But this outfit doesn't quite look the part. Fu Li twirled the braid dangling from her shoulder as she pondered... Ahem, speaking of which, is my murder weapon still there?
If this is a dream... She tentatively fumbled lower down. Gone? Let's try again... Gone!
Her brain instantly short-circuited. She tried to access the memories within this body like in novels. Indeed, there were memories that didn't belong to her, but they were basically just combat techniques, with almost no memories of daily life, as if it were merely a vessel for memories rather than a living person.
Neither Raiden Makoto nor Raiden Ei—did I become the Raiden Shogun of the cannons?! This... how will I know if I don't try?
Just as she eagerly reached her hand further down, a sudden explosion of thunder blasted away her brewing mood, instantly giving rise to a surge of resentment.
"What kind of ghost weather, you scared the life out of me..."
As if communicating with her mood, the thunderclouds instantly dissipated, and bright sunlight finally shone down upon the earth.
Stepping onto this familiar yet unfamiliar place, Fu Li found that her senses had also been enhanced by who knows how many fold. Her eyes could clearly see floating leaves drifting over a thousand meters out to sea, her skin could feel every single wisp of elemental current flowing through the air, and her ears could even hear... the sound of pleading? And aggressive curses!
In the northern part of Narukami Island, surrounded by blooming flowers and flourishing thunder cherry blossoms, stood a steep, towering mountain. The only path up the mountain consisted of winding stone steps built into the mountainside; one misstep would send a person plunging into a bottomless abyss. (Do you think you're superior to others?) Cherry blossoms scattered like rain, and viewed from afar, the peak of Mt. Yougou was wreathed in rosy clouds.
The source of this beautiful floral rain was an indescribably huge cherry tree known as the Sacred Sakura. The people of Inazuma believed that this sacred cherry tree was the manifestation of the Almighty Narukami Ogosho's power, and naturally, its status in their hearts was supremely lofty.
Aside from the Sacred Sakura, atop the summit of Mt. Yougou also stood a shrine that practically covered the entire mountaintop. The shrine was vermilion through and through, built upon a body of water, and had accompanied the Sacred Sakura to this day.
The principal deity enshrined in Narukami Shrine was none other than the supreme ruler of the current age—Her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho—the Raiden Shogun.
Beneath the massive Sacred Sakura tree, a clever, cunning, and radiantly beautiful fox-eared shrine maiden wore a slightly surprised expression. Following her gaze, a patch of Inazuma's sky, which was perpetually blanketed in dark clouds, actually let sunlight pierce through.
"Oh my... could it be her? I didn't expect it to be so soon. It really is quite surprising."
Yae Miko wore a cunning smile at the corners of her lips, standing alone beneath the Sacred Sakura tree in deep thought.
"Should I go take a look at her? If it really is her... No, how could I, the esteemed Guuji of Yae, be so proactive? Heh, since she took the initiative to give me the cold shoulder, I should give her the cold shoulder in return."
Yae Miko's eyes flashed as countless thoughts vanished and reappeared in her mind. A fox's mind had always been unfathomable; although she had only been Guuji for a few decades, her thoughts were already impossible to fathom.
For some reason, she had a strange feeling, as if she could sense the existence of two "her"s. After much deliberation, she finally made her choice.
*Sigh*, I'll just go take a look myself.
...
At the entrance of the dilapidated Konda Village, a ragged, hunchbacked old man was being beaten by three burly men dressed as shogunate soldiers.
"You old fogey, don't be ungrateful! You haven't paid your overdue taxes in months. If you don't pay up now, our blades are going to see blood!"
"My lords, you know the situation in our village as well. Everyone is starving, even the young fruit on the nearby violet melon trees has been stripped bare. There really is no food left!"
This old man was the village chief of Konda Village. He struggled to prop up his frail body as he bitterly begged the three debt collectors, but the other party members were no pushovers. One of the strongest directly grabbed the chief by the collar and mercilessly swung his palm across the old man's bony face, each slap accompanied by a spurt of blood.
Not satisfied after the beating, he shoved the old man to the ground so hard that the old village chief rolled his eyes and instantly lost consciousness.
"Hmph, yesterday you all claimed you couldn't find any food, yet this morning there's the smell of violet melons. Are you all getting too big for your boots?!"
One of the tax collectors drew his sword, pointed it at the shivering, sallow villagers around them, and slowly walked toward a nearby patch of seemingly abandoned farmland. He gently brushed away the weeds with his blade and pulled out a radish only the size of a pinky finger.
"And you still dare say you have no food?! What is this?! To dare defy the shogunate's orders—are you planning to rebel?!"
A flash of lightning illuminated the earth as bright as day. The villagers turned pale with fright and collapsed heavily onto their knees. The three debt collectors assumed their intimidation had been overwhelmingly powerful and burst into triumphant, arrogant laughter.
"Y-Your Excellency the Shogun!"
The smiles on the three debt collectors instantly vanished. Turning around, they nearly scared their souls out of their bodies. Their limbs turned to jelly and they dropped to their knees. Although her outfit was a bit different from the Raiden Shogun in their impressions, they could still recognize her as Her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, whom they worshipped.
"What... what were you doing just now?!"
Completely contrary to the cold expression of the Raiden Shogun in their memories, this time, the Shogun's perpetually frozen face rarely displayed an expression of anger.
"Your Excellency! We were only acting on orders! Collecting grain from the villagers is an order issued by the shogunate!"
"I am asking what you were doing just now!"
Fu Li looked at the village chief lying unconscious on the ground, and a suffocating pressure began to slowly spread outward. The three debt collectors turned pale as ghosts, kowtowing like pounding garlic.
"Spare my life, Your Excellency! These unruly peasants dared to defy the orders issued by the shogunate. We were only upholding the majesty of the shogunate, they deserved to be punished..."
Explaining didn't help; perhaps they looked like pawns acting against their will, but once they explained, well, that was it—they were beyond saving and deserved to die. Fu Li felt a rush to her head, and the thought of silencing them involuntarily popped into her mind. The next second, a bolt of thunder sent the three dogs to meet their great-great-grandmothers, frightening the nearby villagers into prostrating themselves on the ground.
Fu Li's hand trembled. She hadn't meant to do that just now, and she felt a slight sense of guilt... Still, keeping scum like that around was a hazard anyway.
"...Ahem, where is this place?"
After calming her emotions, Fu Li observed her surroundings. The scenery didn't seem like anything she had seen in the game, so she asked one of the villagers.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this is Konda Village..."
The designated villager answered tremblingly. Fu Li's expression sank upon hearing this. This dilapidated village was actually Konda Village from the game? It was practically described by its broken walls and ruined shards.
Then there was only one conclusion: the timeline here was far too early compared to the main game. But it didn't look like the Archon War era either. Hmm...
Fu Li glanced sideways, as if she had discovered something extraordinary. Bending down to look, the muddy ground splashed by the lightning had actually sprouted faint wisps of new green. It was a new discovery, though she wasn't sure if it was a coincidence.
To verify this hypothesis, she pointed her finger at the vegetable patch beside her feet. Tiny bolts of lightning danced across the soil, and those small radish seedlings, no bigger than weeds, rapidly grew as if infused with a certain vitality. Growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, a dying plant was instantly revitalized, spreading along the surrounding fence and bearing bright red tomatoes. This was no coincidence.
The unconscious village chief on the ground twitched his nose. Being on the verge of starvation, he smelled the scent of food and began struggling to crawl over, instinctively grabbing a tomato and devouring it in large bites.
Once he regained consciousness, he was so startled that the tomato dropped from his hand. The legendary Raiden Shogun was standing right in front of him.
Thinking of these starving villagers driven to a living hell by harsh taxes, Fu Li sparked several bolts of lightning out of sheer indignation.
The village chief let out a wail and leaped up, then stumbled back down onto his knees. His pitifully few strands of hair were smoking as he shouted for the Shogun to calm her wrath. Fu Li was startled, realizing she had forgotten to control her power, and felt a pang of guilt inside, yet for the sake of her persona, she held back the impulse to step forward and help him up.
"There is no need for that. This was a lapse on my part; are you injured?"
The village chief carefully moved his limbs and was pleasantly surprised to find that all the aches and pains from the beating had vanished—disregarding the smoking afro, of course. He immediately began kowtowing in deep gratitude. For some reason, the Raiden Shogun's image before him seemed to have grown much gentler, but he dared not harbor any further doubts.
"Thank you, Your Excellency!"
Fu Li looked somewhat astonished at the lightning in her hand. Those tiny bolts of lightning could not only make plants grow, but they also possessed healing properties. Lightning that could heal—pretty magical, right?
Perhaps, because of me, this story will turn out completely different...
"How many injured and sick people are there in your village? Bring them all here!"
The villagers did not dare dawdle and hurried home, supporting their ailing family members out and continuing to kowtow to Fu Li. This made Fu Li feel somewhat uncomfortable, and she instinctively covered her face. Down with this cursed theological fascism.
In the dark, Yae Miko watched from afar, her pink ears drooping on both sides twitching instinctively. Lightning, which should have represented destruction, could actually heal all things. Coupled with that extremely awkward gesture just now, she could be certain that the person before her was definitely not the "her" she was familiar with.
Seeing the gathered sick and wounded villagers, Fu Li felt her heart twinge. This desperate and oppressive sight made her heart ache; after all, she was not an archon, she was human.
As Fu Li's will stirred, wisps of lightning began to emerge from the ground. Those sickly villagers first stepped back a few steps in fear, but after a brief spasm, they miraculously discovered that their illnesses, disabilities, and frail constitutions had suddenly been restored to prime condition.
"The villagers of Konda Village thank Your Excellency! May the Narukami path endure and Narukami be eternal!"
Fu Li helplessly covered her face. Facing the prostrations of so many villagers, she was at a loss as well. Just as she prepared to leave, she turned her head and saw a certain seductive pink figure slowly walking toward her.
Oh no, why is that scummy fox here? Quick, pretend not to see her.